Tuesday, June 9, 2009

You know you're crazy when...

So, it's 11:20 or so, and I'm lying in bed, just making the normal rounds of all my favorite websites, when I decide to visit one of my fave free-stuff websites, Free Stuff Times. And what do I find but a Havaianas flip flops giveaway at seventeen.com, starting at 12:01 AM on June 9th! I check the clock thingy on my computer: 11:24 PM on June 8th.

And then I get that thought: Hey, you know what could be a fun adventure? Waiting up 'till 12:01 to win some $18 flip flops! And so, I do.

It's 11:40, and I'm just chillin' watching some Life With Derek (the one where Casey has to lie about her dog dying to convince her teacher to give her more time on an essay she forgot to hand in. Goooood stuff (that's why it's on at the prime time of 11:30, right?)). I have the URL all ready to go on my computer.

Now it's 11:59, and I'm ready to press return to take me to the giveaway. I wait until 12:00, and, even though it starts at 12:01, I decide to be the early bird and start sooner. I enter the special URL and it takes me to the Seventeen homepage. So I wait a minute, until 12:01 (now I'm really excited) and feverishly do it again. Takes me to the homepage.

Uh, what?! This contest was supposed to start at 12:01 AM and I was supposed to be one of the first 3,000 to enter and in 7 to 10 business days I was supposed to get a pair of ugly rubber flip flops for free!

So I do it again. And again. Each time, it takes me to the homepage. But then, a few minutes later, a glimmer of hope. Because now, when I go to the homepage, the URL briefly starts to go to seventeen.com/sweepstakes/7035 before reverting to the homepage. At least I know this so-called sweepstakes exists. AND THEN some lovely people on the Free Stuff Times comment section point out that there's now a link to the giveaway on the freebies page of seventeen.com. So I go there, click on "enter now," and I am taken, for the 29th time, to the homepage.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, just had to get that out. So it's now about 12:11, and I'm getting drowsy. That's So Raven isn't as funny as I remember it being, and this giveaway isn't giving anything away yet.

Ok, since it started at 12:01, I'll wait 'til 1:01. I'll give it an hour, then I'll go to sleep. Sounds good.

It's 1:01. I try to enter again. Ain't working. So I try one more time for good measure, and no luck. Finally, I shut my laptop and sleep....

Wake up this morning, around 9:30, to this really annoying radio guy whose channel serves as my alarm. This guy has the most annoying attitude and voice, and he just really pisses me off. But I listen to him for a bit, then let BB and S in, because they're scratching at my closed door. At around 10:00, I remember the giveaway, and I open my laptop, knowing it's probably over by now, but might as well check.

IT STILL HASN'T STARTED. Oh. my. god.

And as of now at 11:10, it still has not started. Seventeen.com, you failed me. But I would like to give a shout out to the other 20 or so people who posted on the Free Stuff Times comments section, assuring me that I wasn't alone on my crazy quest for free flip flops.

And you can be sure that seventeen.com's customer service is getting an inbox-full of complaints (many by me) today.

UPDATE: So FINALLY it went live today at around 11:50 (almost 12 hours after it was supposed to), so of course I frantically filled out my address and such, and then click send and it says something along the lines of "Thank you for your subscription, you will be billed for blah blah blah..."

WHAT!? Apparently those sneaky snakes at Seventeen tricked me into a subscription when I entered (which I'm beginning to think wasn't a first 3,000, but just a random 3,000 entries contest... FML). They're not getting away with $8 of my money, though. I'm going to cancel my subscription AND, instead of buying their $3 magazine every month, I'm going to go to Barnes and Noble and read it there without paying for it.